Motel 6 Newport Beach

The dog-walking area is the one thing that kept this from being five stars. It’s behind the property, reached through a parking garage, and consists of the spaces around and between parked cars. There was no bathroom fan, and the TV remote was falling apart, which seems common. The bathroom light switch is outside the bathroom, so at night I had to choose between going in the dark or shining the light on my sleeping Mom. Aside from that, it was a great stay. The property was very quiet, though the neighborhood wasn’t the best. Parking was easy, and they gave me the ground-floor room I requested. My non-smoking room didn’t smell like smoke, and there was good climate control. The pool looked lovely but was closed. I had a two-bed room with a microwave and fridge, a big closet with a door, a table, two hard-back chairs, and one nightstand between the beds with an outlet. It was very clean and spacious, and the hot water had good temperature and pressure. For once, I found no hairs in the towels. Check-in came with lots of rules, as the photo shows, but they didn’t ID my Mom or take a deposit. Motel 6 has only checked on my room after check-in twice, and this was one of those times. They called about a loose toilet seat and even sent a maintenance man while we were on the phone. I declined, since I never let anyone into my room and the seat seemed fine. This time I didn’t bring my dogs, since I spent the whole day on Catalina island.

We only stayed one night, but it was a good experience. The room was clean and looked refurbished, with wood or laminate flooring instead of carpet. Check-in was easy and fast, and the man at the front desk was very nice. When I returned the keys the next morning, a different man was just as nice and mentioned there was coffee in the lobby.

We brought our pets, which is why we chose Motel 6, and both the manager and desk clerk took it in stride. The room had a King bed, plenty of space for a Motel 6, and a comfortable mattress. Since the property has been remodeled with faux hardwood floors, the room didn’t have that musty-carpet smell. Nice! It’s one of the cleanest places I’ve encountered in the Motel 6 chain. Check-in was easy and quick, and the responsive front desk staff clearly wanted guests to feel welcome. The location is great too. I wouldn’t usually recommend Motel 6 unless the nightly rate was the main concern, but this property is quite good. I’ll stay again, with or without pets.

The guy who checked me in was really nice and friendly. The room looked stylish and modern, but the furniture needed a little work: the end table’s laminate was coming off, and the bathtub bottom needs a new coating. There wasn’t a dresser for clothes, which would be an issue for anyone staying longer than a night. They also had no shampoo, which matters if you’ve flown in and couldn’t bring liquids like shampoo on the plane.